When the Keys brothers were growing up in the bush, there was no electricity in their home and they had to ride a pony bareback 10km into town.
It might sound like one of those tall tales older generations tell their children and grandchildren to demonstrate just how easy they’ve got it.
But for siblings John, Ken and Robert Keys, stories of those frugal early years on a King Island farm, in the middle of the Bass Strait, have come to define both their brotherly bond and their lives working with horses.
The horse trainers brought their runners more than 3000km from Melbourne and Tasmania to the Birdsville Races, the first time the island state has been represented in the 143-year history of the outback Queensland carnival.
Robert Keys’ Wholesome came eighth in race five on Saturday afternoon, ahead of John Keys’ Native Clan in 10th and Ken Keys’ Anointed Lad in 12th.
The Birdsville Cup, the carnival’s $60,000 feature race, was taken out by Testator Silens, in which Birdsville local and Diamantina Shire mayor Francis Murray has a stake.
It was the first Cup in which female jockeys took out the top three places, with Bailie Baker in pole position.
Robert Keys said the sibling rivalry was the only competition that truly mattered in the brothers’ races: “Third last would be good enough,” he joked.
Horses have always been a part of the Keys’ lives, with the brothers riding ponies to help on the family farm as boys.
John Keys remembered his pony Pixie, who he rode into town to visit his teenage sweetheart Heather.
“I used to ride that pony six miles, I’d go in there and go to the beach.
“I tried to give her a ride on the back of the horse, but she was too scared to get on.”
Those memories led the couple back together about a decade ago, a rekindling of their childhood romance.
These kinds of tales of deep connection are part of what bonds many organisers, trainers, jockeys and punters at the Birdsville Races.
Thousands of people came to the dusty outpost – a bucket list road trip for many groups of friends and family.
Crowds gathered outside the Birdsville Hotel each night over race weekend to watch the action in the Fred Brophy boxing tent.
Mr Brophy pitched his big top for the final time at Birdsville in 2025, having been a fixture for 43 years.
His travelling boxing troupe take on willing punters at races, shows and rodeos in the outback, a rough-and-tumble spectacle that is only legal in Queensland.
At 73, Mr Brophy said he was ready to hang up his well-worn felt hat and red silk shirt to instead enjoy Birdsville as a spectator.
“I feel a bit of a tear in my eye, I think that’s what they call it,” Mr Brophy said before his last round on Saturday, his Jack Russell terrier Ringo at his feet.
“You’ve got the horse racing, the jockeys, the trainers, the hotel, this is all a part of what we do out here.
“If you haven’t been to the Birdsville Races, you haven’t been anywhere in Australia … you don’t know what you’re missing out on.”
This AAP article was made possible by support from the Birdsville Race Club
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